The snowboard of the present invention is formed with a composite-material body which is produced essentially in accordance with the teachings of the above-referred-to ""293 co-pending patent application, and with body-captured edges in accordance with the teachings of the other, above-referred-to, co-pending patent application, and certain portions of the specification texts in these two referenced applications are repeated below in the present specification. Additionally, the snowboard disclosed herein may employ edges which are selectively tunable in accordance with the teachings of my existing U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,272, issued Jul. 23, 1996, for TUNABLE SNOWBOARD.
The entireties of the disclosures contained in the two above-mentioned co-pending patent applications, and in the single mentioned patent, are hereby incorporated by reference into this disclosure.
This invention relates to a snowboard, and more particularly to a snowboard which is characterized by special compound curvilinearity which features transitioning (along the length of the board) between concave and convex curvature in relation to that expanse of the board which faces a snow surface.
Recreational/sporting snowboards have, in recent years, acquired extraordinary and seemingly ever-growing popularity in the arena of snow sporting activities. Developments in this area on which I have worked, and with regard to which I have made and contributed several important advances, have related to snowboard structures (and associated features) which depart, structurally, from conventional layered/laminated-wood snowboard structures. In particular, my recent prior snowboard work has shifted attention toward snowboards that are functionally competitive with, yet significantly advanced with respect to, laminated structures, which advanced boards are formed of a composite-material body created by hot-flow injection molding of a blend containing a plastic mass, a foaming agent, and reinforcing fibers, such as carbon or glass fibers. The several advances for which I have been responsible are illustrated and described in the above-referred-to, still co-pending U.S. patent applications, and in the above-identified existing U.S. patent.
In addition to retaining the well-recognized, consumer-desired characteristics of size, resilience, xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d, weight and topographical configuration (including fairly sophisticated shaping and curvilinearity) of conventional laminated-wood snowboards, my composite-material developments offer advances and enhancements in performance, durability, ease and simplicity of manufacture, and other things not available in and regarding the best-known conventional laminated boards.
The snowboard described and claimed herein, which forms the essence and core of the present invention, and as will be explained below, (a) utilizes the composite-material body structure described in relation to my prior work, (b) preferably employs edge structures configured and joined in place also in accordance with my recent prior work, and (c) launches, from that base of prior work, a special topographical board configuration involving longitudinally transitioning concave and convex curvatures in that face of the board which is intended to be the snow-surface contacting face. This complex, compound curvilinearity is achieved readily in a snowboard body which is injection molded in accordance with my prior work, and its specific features, which are described hereinbelow, offer very special and unique user-action maneuverability which renders the new snowboard construction described herein peerless, in a performance sense, from others available in the field.
In particular, the snowboard of the present invention is formed with an elongate body having a snow-contacting facial expanse that is characterized by a longitudinal central region which, in transverse cross section, is convex, with this central region joining with a pair of opposite end regions which, in transverse cross section, are concave. The topography of this board, as viewed from either face, is, essentially, bilaterally symmetrical, both with respect to the board""s longitudinal axis, and with respect to the board""s central transverse axis, and as viewed from either long side, is likewise seen as having bilateral symmetry relative to its central transverse axis.
Molded into and extending along opposite longitudinal sides of the board""s body are metallic edges, which may or may not be tunable edges, and which co-act with the new topography proposed by this invention to achieve remarkable snow-action performance.
Mentioning very briefly what can and does occur functionally as a result of the xe2x80x9ctransitioningxe2x80x9d topography just mentioned, the convexity present in the central portion of the board, with a user properly positioned essentially for straight, in-line travel, tends to present and act somewhat like an elongate, straight xe2x80x9ckeelxe2x80x9d in contact with a snow surface, thus to enhance stable, straight-line travel. The concavity mentioned for both opposite ends of the board offers a structure which generally can be characterized as possessing laterally spaced, downwardly directed xe2x80x9crailsxe2x80x9d which, on the occurrence of a user weight shift, dramatically initiate the carving, defining and controlling of a turn. The lateral sides or edges of the central portion also carve into a snow surface to play a xe2x80x9cturningxe2x80x9d role.
Various other features and advantages which are offered by the present invention will become more fully apparent as the description which now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.